Ulta Beauty raises full-year forecast after reporting growth in all major categories
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Beauty has remained a hot category for consumers, even as they pull back or watch their spending in other discretionary categories.
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August 28, 2025
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In this articleULTA your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNTPeople walk past an Ulta Beauty store in the Manhattan borough of New York City on March 8, 2022.Carlo Allegri | ReutersUlta Beauty on Thursday raised its full-year forecast, after reporting growth in all major and topping Wall Street's quarterly sales expectations.The beauty retailer said it expects net sales of between $12 billion and $12.1 billion, up from its previous range of $11.5 billion and $11.7 billion, representing an increase from last fiscal year's net sales of $11.3 billion
It expects earnings per of $23.85 to $24.30, up from its previous range of $22.65 to $23.20.It expects comparable sales, a metric that takes out one-time factors store openings and closures, to grow between 2.5% to 3.5%, up from jections of as much as 1.5%
The company had raised its annual fit forecast and the upper end of its full year sales range in May.In the company's news release, CEO Kecia Steelman said its outlook for the year "reflects both the strength of our year-to-date performance and our caution around how consumer demand may evolve in the second half of the year."s of Ulta gained roughly 6% in ext trading, after earlier hitting a 52-week during the regular session.Here's what the company reported for the fiscal second quarter compared with what Wall Street expected, according to LSEG:Earnings per : $5.78
It was not immediately if that was comparable to the $5.08 expected by analysts.Revenue: $2.79 billion vs. $2.67 billion expectedIn the three-month period that August 2, Ulta's net income rose to $260.88 million, or $5.78 per , from $252.6 million, or $5.30 per , in the year-ago period
Revenue increased from $2.55 billion in the year-ago quarter.Beauty has remained a hot category for consumers, even as they pull back or watch their spending in other discretionary
Yet that's fueled tougher competition for Ulta Beauty as specialty players LVMH-owned Sephora, big-box retailers Walmart and department stores Kohl's have all bulked up their beauty es.For investors, tariffs have been a closely watched challenge for retailers, too
Compared to other retailers, Ulta is not as directly exposed
Only 1% of the company's merchandise last fiscal year was direct imports, then-CFO Paula Oyibo said in May on the company's earnings call
She said at the time most of Ulta's exposure to the higher duties was minor, such as store fixtures and supplies.In the second quarter, Ulta's comparable sales grew 6.7% year over year, more than double analysts' expectations, according to StreetAccount.Customers visited more and spent more when they shopped on Ulta's website and in its stores compared to the year-ago quarter
Transactions rose by 3.7% and average ticket increased by 2.9%.Ulta added new brands and ducts that drove purchases in the quarter, including more ducts from Sol de Janeiro, exclusive Korean beauty brand Peach & Lily and Shakira's hair care brand, Isima, Steelman said on the company's earnings call.Plus, she said, it's trying to reach more of its existing and spective customers in new ways
It had an activation at the Coachella and Lollapalooza music festivals and was the official beauty retail partner of Beyonce's Cowboy Carter Tour.Along with attracting more customers in the U.S., Ulta has looked internationally for growth
It announced in July that had acquired Space NK, a British beauty retailer, from Manzanita Capital
The deal allows Ulta to enter a new international market, since Space NK has 83 stores in the United Kingdom and Ireland.Ulta did not disclose the price of the acquisition, saying it funded the transaction with cash on hand and Ulta's existing credit facility and that it would not be material to financial results for the fiscal year.The company is expanding in other international , too
Ulta plans to open its first stores in Mexico City, Kuwait City and Dubai later this year, CEO Kecia Steelman said on the company's May earnings call.Ulta is also launching a third-party marketplace later this year, a move that more retailers are making as a way to expand the mix of merchandise they carry without needing more store shelf space or buying more of their own inventory.At the same time, Ulta recently announced the end of one of its efforts to expand reach
It cut ties with Target, which had opened mini Ulta shops in more than 600 big-box stores
The licensing deal, which will end in August 2026, allowed Target to sell a smaller and rotating asment of makeup, skincare, hair care ducts and more that are carried by the full Ulta stores
Target carried those items on its website, and it staffed the shops.Ulta is looking for a new CFO as well
The company's former CFO, Oyibo, left Ulta in late June after a year in the role
Ulta has not yet announced her permanent successor.This is news
Please check back for .
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